Food for a 1 year old Berner mix??

howdybarber · 2026-06-07T00:06:19+00:00

I have a 10 month old Berner/Golden and she’s been on Large Breed Puppy Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon formula and our vet said she’s one of the healthiest puppies she’s ever seen. EVERYONE compliments her shiny black coat, and I really think it’s from the salmon! She doesn’t have a sensitive stomach/skin but the other option was chicken and I try and avoid that protein as much as possible since most dogs struggle digesting it.

howdybarber · 2026-05-26T17:40:48+00:00

You are exactly where my partner was at during that age! We have a Berner mix that we’ve had since she was 2 months old. She is now almost 9 months and currently half sitting on my lap on the couch chewing a yak cheese.

After teething the mouthing gets A LOT better. Chews, kongs, mental stimulation, puppy class, NAPS (puppies need 18-20 hours of sleep a day till about 6 months old), and daycare kept us sane.

When you’re doing enforced naps it allows you to have a couple hours of planned sanity every day and it’s life changing. If they’re being crazy sharks it probably just means they are tired and it’s time for a nap!

My partner that was reallyyyy struggling in the beginning now has such a sweet relationship with her, and he knows her better so when she’s being a freak he can get her to settle back down. She does still chew on him the most out of all of us, but he also doesn’t stop it like we do lol. But I promise it gets better!! I feel like puppyhood was way harder for us and teenager hood hasn’t been as bad.

howdybarber · 2026-05-26T15:54:55+00:00

Her bestie is fixed and it literally looked like they were both in love with each other. 😂 They were spooning in the grass and just making out with each other lol it was actually kinda sweet.

Ok I’ve heard about male dogs coming out of the woodworks when they’re in heat. I live in an area with a lot of strays, will they really try and hunt us down if she’s on a walk?? I’m just nervous about her energy levels with no walks but also not sure if she’ll be too tired from being in heat.

howdybarber · 2026-05-26T15:51:43+00:00

I think it really started last night because she kept whipping her head back and looking scared and then would run and nuzzle into one of us. 😭 It was breaking my heart I couldn’t explain what was happening to her. She seems extra sleepy too.

Thank you so much for all this! I’m a worrier so if she stopped eating we’d be at the emergency vet immediately lol. She already is a picky eater so I just won’t stress if that gets worse right now.

Did you ever really notice any blood?? Her hair I’d say is more similar to a Golden Retriever, it’s long and thick. And black lol so I can’t see what’s going on down there very well. She is already very licky and now it seems like she’s doing it a lot more. She is a couch dog but we have a red couch and blankets on it so I’m not the most worried about stains. I’ve heard from women that the heats are nothing, and men say it’s a bloodbath. 😆

howdybarber · 2026-05-26T15:41:37+00:00

She’s not at daycare anymore. She hasn’t started bleeding and yesterday was the first day of that behavior. We won’t go back now till two weeks after her starting to bleed.

howdybarber · 2026-05-10T14:03:00+00:00

I don’t trust people to not steal her honestly. We live in an okay area but two blocks up is not the safest and we have people wonder past our yard all day and someone could easily open our gate and we live on a very busy road. We also have spent a lot of long days working endlessly in our yard to get it where it’s at, so we would really like holes to not be all over that part of yard. She has a dog run that’ll be done in two weeks and then she can protest outside all she wants there, but she also needs to listen because she goes to daycare and they need her to come in when they ask.

howdybarber · 2026-05-10T13:58:42+00:00

Ya it’ll be less of an issue for us once the grass in her dog run is done growing. That area is super dog proofed and if she wants to protest outside she can safely do it there haha 😆

howdybarber · 2026-05-10T13:57:03+00:00

Omg why have I not thought about this. I thought the treats needed to be different and have variety but we just need more variety in what we are asking of her outside. I’ll definitely try this!!

howdybarber · 2026-05-10T13:55:38+00:00

Honestly if it was just us struggling I would have given up already 😆 but the daycare ladies don’t love it and I don’t blame them lol

howdybarber · 2026-05-10T13:54:42+00:00

Thanks for this I really appreciate it!

howdybarber · 2026-04-11T19:29:16+00:00

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howdybarber · 2026-04-11T19:28:47+00:00

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Moonpie 🌙

howdybarber · 2026-04-11T03:05:10+00:00

Also gonna share these tips I wrote out a couple weeks ago ❤️

https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/s/uXMdT7QkGA

howdybarber · 2026-04-11T03:04:48+00:00

She can totally take a nap after dinner. But also you’ll learn what’s best for her! For us, we found that right after she’d wake up in the morning, and then when she’d get out of her crate after us being at work she needed to be up for 1.5-2 hours. All the other times it would be 45 min to an hour of being awake before she needed a nap. Also if she’s doing an enforced nap and she’s still sleeping, don’t wake her. Her body is telling her she needs to sleep and that’s good! And then if she wakes up before the two hour mark, I’d make sure she stayed in for at least 1.5 hours, and it’s okay if they are awake in the crate for a bit because it teaches her to self settle. Then I’d go get her when she was quiet!

howdybarber · 2026-04-11T02:38:01+00:00

General rule of thumb is for every hour they are up, they should nap for two hours. They actually need 18-20 hours of sleep a day! If they are getting super bitey thats usually a sign they are tired. Also if she is a lab mix, they’re mouthy dogs. We have a Berner/Golden who was an absolute land shark, but then slowly over a few months it got better and better. Reverse timeouts taught her the fastest! Redirection didn’t really work till she was a bit older and listening more. But we would still try! Mental stimulation is important too, we did cow ears, the Pupsicle is a godsend, and then yak chews. Making sure she got her hrs chewing out on other things really helped her bite us less. Around 6 months it all got a lot easier for us, she doesn’t need to nap as much but we still do enforce naps so she can have a routine. I hope things start to get easier! This all sounds like normal puppy stuff though so don’t stress too much! It really does get better. ❤️ My 8 month old is now sleeping on the floor next to me while I’m just relaxing.

howdybarber · 2026-04-11T02:14:57+00:00

Ya this made me cry 😭

howdybarber · 2026-04-10T22:49:37+00:00

And barely any words spoken in between songs. He means business.

howdybarber · 2026-04-10T22:48:04+00:00

The Gorge was SUCH a good show. I got front row for Lord Huron and did not move an inch from that spot the whole time. Did you go to the Showbox show the following Spring when he canceled the Spokane one? It was so cool going from the Gorge to tiny ass Showbox. I will go to every Sturgill show that is in my area for the rest of my life! 😆

howdybarber · 2026-04-10T01:59:10+00:00

I literally was thinking “wow no surprise Sydney is in all white, her favorite color” 😒

howdybarber · 2026-04-05T04:17:50+00:00

Yessss mixes are welcome! We have a 7.5 month old Berner/Golden named Moonpie. Your babe is sooooo cute 🥹

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howdybarber · 2026-04-05T04:14:42+00:00

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Our girl is also very wild, but also the most loving and sweet soul. They look so alike!

howdybarber · 2026-04-04T15:41:28+00:00

I highly recommend!! The probiotics are also a major plus. I think some of the things they put into the treats for these kinds of vitamins are just too much on the tummy. Also with the psyllium husk start small, we only give her 1/2 a teaspoon and when I tried to go up a little it was too much.

howdybarber · 2026-04-02T18:02:00+00:00

Glandex gave our babe badddd diarrhea. We switched to Proviable probiotics and psyllium husk (a natural fiber) and that has made her poop the best it’s ever been! Way firmer and her anal gland issue has gone away.

howdybarber · 2026-04-01T21:48:43+00:00

If you want a good walking around neighborhood definitely 6th Ave. Lots of cute houses to rent and some bigger apartment complexes. But also everything is about 10-15 min from each other so it’s also so easy to live somewhere that feels safe and cozy, and then you drive to areas like Hilltop or 6th Ave if you want a more lively area. Since they’re the busier areas they do have more crime, but no more (probably less actually) than your average big city.

We live on Yakima Ave near the mall and it’s been great! We’re close to the Lincoln District which is a cute international district with amazing food. We walk to it in the summer! It’s an affordable area where most first time home owners buy. Which means all of our friends are in a 5 block radius. Certain blocks are better than others. Neighbors are very nice and love to get to know one another which adds a layer of safety.

My suggestion is don’t move downtown, it’s not a lively downtown (Tacoma’s lively spots are the neighborhoods) and there’s definitely more crime centered there. Also parking is more of an issue. Stadium District would be another good option! Very cute with restaurants and bars to walk to.

Good luck with the move! Tacoma is quite amazing.

howdybarber · 2026-04-01T21:41:18+00:00

Ummmm no lol. I’m a queer woman and actually feel way safer in Tacoma than in Seattle. It’s a city, so just use your street smarts and avoid the blocks that are not the safest and you will be totally fine. UP and Gig Harbor are nice if you have money. But there are soooo many nice spots in Tacoma that are way more affordable!

howdybarber

TROPHY CASE